PRESIDENTIAL wannabe Rodrigo Duterte said at the latest presidential debates that he had long dreamed to be a hero. One issue he cited where he could perform a heroic act is in pressing for the Philippine claim to the Spratly Islands (Kalayaan Island Group) that are now occupied by China.
He reiterated his earlier statement that as president, he is most willing to go to China and discuss the issue. This is a departure from the present stand of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations against bilateral talks on the Spratly dispute. He had also said that if he’s the president, he’s amenable to dropping the claim over the Spratly and other contested islands in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea) once China agrees to build railroads in the Philippines.
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